Invited to Give: A Compendium of Offertory Sentences and Illustrations

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Lionel D C Hartley

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Invited to Give:

A Compendium of Offertory
Sentences and Illustrations

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Lionel D C Hartley
1967

Invited to Give:

A Compendium of Offertory Sentences and Illustrations
Lionel D C Hartley

Published by L&R Hartley

Copyright ©1967 Lionel Hartley

All rights reserved in all countries.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in
the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and
reviews and as teaching or sermon illustrations provided
acknowledgement is given.

May be used during worship without acknowledgement.
Typeset in Times New Roman

Illustrated by the author ©1967

Cutter Numbers: Dewey H2551; Sanborn H3321

Contents

From the Bible: ............sssse00 9
Other Offertory Sentences: . 23

TITUStratiOns:s ..........cccccecceceece 27

Invited to Give p7 Lionel D C Hartley

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Lionel D C Hartley

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From the Bible:

“.. remembering the words of the Lord
Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed
to give than to receive.’”

— (Acts 20:35)

-000-

“all shall give as they are able, according
to the blessing of the Lord your God that he
has given you.”

— (Deuteronomy 16:17)

-000-
“...for ‘the earth and its fullness are the

Lord’s.’”
— (1 Corinthians 10:26)

Invited to Give p9 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

“...for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is
able to provide you with every blessing in
abundance, so that by always having enough
of everything, you may share abundantly in
every good work.”

— (2 Corinthians 9:7b-8)

-000-
“...the one who sows sparingly will also reap
sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully
will also reap bountifully.”
— (2 Corinthians 9:6)

-000-
“A generous person will be enriched, and
one who gives water will get water.”

— (Proverbs 11:25)

-000-

Invited to Give plo Lionel D C Hartley

“As for those who in the present age are
rich, command them not to be haughty, or to
set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,
but rather on God who richly provides us
with everything for our enjoyment.”

— (1 Timothy 6:17)

-000-

“Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the
peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and
strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due
his name; bring an offering, and come into
his courts.”

— (Psalm 96:7-8)

-000-
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not

forget all his benefits.”
— (Psalm 103:2)

Invited to Give pll Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

“But those who look into the perfect law, the
law of liberty, and persevere, being not
hearers who forget but doers who act—they
will be blessed in their doing.”

— (James 1:25)

-000-

“Do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which
you have from God, and that you are not
your own? For you were bought with a
price; therefore glorify God in your body.”
— (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

-000-

“Each of you must give as you have made up
your mind, not reluctantly or under
compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
— (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Invited to Give pl2 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

“For God is not unjust; he will not overlook
your work and the love that you showed for
his sake in serving the saints, as you still
do.”

— (Hebrews 6:10)

-000-

“For God so loved the world that he gave his
only Son, so that everyone who believes in
him may not perish but may have eternal
life.”

— (John 3:16)

-000-

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich
some have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves with many pains.
But as for you, man of God, shun all this;

Invited to Give p13 Lionel D C Hartley

pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
endurance, gentleness.”
— (1 Timothy 6:10-11)

-000-

“For those who want to save their life will
lose it, and those who lose their life for my
sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save
it. For what will it profit them to gain the
whole world and forfeit their life?”

— (Mark 8:35-36)

-000-
“For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.”
— (Matthew 6:21)

-000-

“For you know the generous act of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet

Invited to Give pl4 Lionel D C Hartley

for your sakes he became poor, so that by his
poverty you might become rich.”
— (2 Corinthians 8:9)

-000-

“Honour the Lord with your substance and
with the first fruits of all your produce.”
— (Proverbs 3:9)

-000-

“How does God’s love abide in anyone who
has the world’s goods and sees a brother or
sister in need and yet refuses help?”

— (1 John 3:17)

-000-

“T appeal to you therefore, brothers and
sisters, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual

Invited to Give pls Lionel D C Hartley

worship.”
— (Romans 12:1)

-000-

“Tn all your ways acknowledge him, and he
will make straight your paths.”
— (Proverbs 3:6)

-000-

“Know that the Lord is God. It is he that
made us, and we are his; we are his people,
and the sheep of his pasture.”

— (Psalm 100:3)

-000-

“Let your light shine before others, so that
they may see your good works and give
glory to your Father in heaven.”

— (Matthew 5:16)

Invited to Give p16 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

“Like good stewards of the manifold grace
of God, serve one another with whatever gift
each of you has received. Whoever speaks
must do so as one speaking the very words
of God; whoever serves must do so with the
strength that God supplies, so that God may
be glorified in all things through Jesus
Christ. To him belong the glory and the
power forever and ever. Amen.”

— (1 Peter 4:10-11)

-000-

“So let us not grow weary in doing what is
right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we
do not give up. So then, whenever we have
an opportunity, let us work for the good of
all, and especially for those of the family of
faith.”

— (Galatians 6:9-10)

Invited to Give pl7 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

“So when you are offering your gift at the
altar, if you remember that your brother or
sister has something against you, leave your
gift there before the altar and go; first be
reconciled to your brother or sister, and then
come and offer your gift.”

— (Matthew 5:23-24)

-000-

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable
gift!”
— (2 Corinthians 9:15)

-000-

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved
children, and live in love, as Christ loved us
and gave himself up for us, a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God.”

— (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Invited to Give pls Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about
your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink, or about your body, what you will
wear. Is not life more than food, and the
body more than clothing?”

— (Matthew 6:25)

-000-

“They shall not appear before the Lord
empty-handed; all shall give as they are
able, according to the blessing of the Lord
your God that he has given you.”

— (Deuteronomy 16:16b-17)

-000-

“Think of us in this way, as servants of
Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.
Moreover, it is required of stewards that
they be found trustworthy.”

Invited to Give plg Lionel D C Hartley

— (1 Corinthians 4:1-2)
-000-

“Through him, then, let us continually offer
a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit
of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect
to do good and to share what you have, for
such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

— (Hebrews 13:15-16)

-000-

“What shall I return to the Lord for all his
bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of
salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I
will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence
of all his people.”

— (Psalm 116:12-14)

-000-

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered

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to receive power and wealth and wisdom
and might and honour and glory and
blessing!”

— (Revelation 5:12)

-000-

“Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the
power, the glory, the victory, and the
majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on
the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O
Lord, and you are exalted as head above
all.”

— (1 Chronicles 29:11)

-000-

(Jesus said,) “From everyone to whom much
has been given, much will be required; and
from the one to whom much has been
entrusted, even more will be demanded.”

— (Luke 12:48)

Invited to Give p21 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

(Jesus said,) “Truly I tell you, just as you did
it to one of the least of these who are
members of my family, you did it to me.’

— (Matthew 25:40)

-000-

One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to
poverty.

— (Proverbs 11:24)

-000-

And Jesus said to them, “Take care! Be on
your guard against all kinds of greed; for
one’s life does not consist in the abundance
of possessions.”

— (Luke 12:15)

Invited to Give p22 Lionel D C Hartley

Other Offertory Sentences:

Reading Mark 12:41-44 - Jesus sat down
opposite the place where the offerings were
put and watched the crowd putting their
money into the temple treasury. Many rich
people threw in large amounts. But a poor
widow came and put in two very small
copper coins, worth only a fraction of a
penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus
said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow
has put more into the treasury than all the
others. They all gave out of their wealth; but
she, out of her poverty, put in everything —
all she had to live on.”

Take out your purse or wallet and look
inside. We measure our offering by what we
give. God measures our offering by what we
have left.

Invited to Give p23 Lionel D C Hartley

We invite the deacon/s to help us to give
what we ought not to keep so that others will
gain what they cannot lose.

— Lionel Hartley 26 April 2013

-000-

As the desert may sharpen thought, so may
the needs in our world sharpen compassion.
May our gifts join others in God’s way of
love until all can share the song of His grace.
We invite the deacons to gather our morning
offering.

-000-

The people of Haiti are known for their
proverbs - simple but poignant sayings that
often convey enormous wisdom and truth
and sometimes teach powerful lessons of life
and faith.

-000-

Invited to Give p24 Lionel D C Hartley

One of the more unusual Haitian proverbs
is: “Cooked food has no owner.” It is
unusual, because for most Haitian people
every day in this desperately impoverished
country is a struggle just to find enough
food to feed one’s family and oneself.

It is unusual, because in the midst of simply
trying to survive, Haitian people do not fail
to remember “from whom all blessings
flow.”

Cooked food has no owner. In other words,
what we have, meagre though it may be, is
not really ours. We don’t own it.

Rather, all we have is from God and is
entrusted to us by God to share with
whoever is in need.

During this week we will sit at tables in our
dining rooms or at restaurant tables
overflowing with food - more food than we

Invited to Give p25 Lionel D C Hartley

need or want.

How we understand the true ownership of
that food will speak volumes about who we
are. Is it ours to eat as we please? To waste?
To share with family and friends? Did we
earn this bread? Do we deserve it? Or
rather is the bread on our dinner plates, like
the bread in our wallets, like everything else
we claim to own, ultimately a gift entrusted
to us to share with others a gift of grace
given to us by the God who has owned us as
His very own in Jesus Christ?

-000-

As we give of out tithes, our gifts and our
stewardship, what What will our offering
say about us? What will it say about what
we “have”? What will it say about about our
God? Cooked food has no owner.

Invited to Give p26 Lionel D C Hartley

Illustrations:

Two fellows are talking religion.

One says to the other, “Sometimes I’d like
to ask God why he allows poverty, famine
and injustice when he could do something
about it.”

“What’s stopping you?” asks the second.

And the first replies, “I’m afraid God might
ask me the same question.”

-000-
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep

to gain what he cannot lose.
— Jim Elliot. Cited in Elizabeth Elliot,

Invited to Give p27 Lionel D C Hartley

“Shadow of the Almighty”, Hodder &
Staughton, London, 1958, p15

-000-

If you give your child coin for the church
offering and later give him several dollars to
go to the movies, you may be teaching him a
set of values he will keep the rest of his life.

-000-

We make a living by what we get and make
a life by what we give.

-000-

“What” you say, “Give again? Only last
week I gave and you expect me to keep on
giving? How long you expect me to keep on
giving and giving? Until I have nothing left
to give?”

Invited to Give p28 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

“Oh no, dear friend, only until God stops
giving to you.”

-000-

An old dollar bill and an even older $20
arrive at a Federal Reserve Bank to be
retired.

-000-

“T’ve had a pretty good life” the $20 says.
“T’ve been to Las Vegas, the finest
restaurants in New York, and even on a
Caribbean cruise.”

-000-
“You did have an exciting life!” the dollar

says.
“Where have you been?” the $20 asks.

Invited to Give p29 Lionel D C Hartley

“Oh, I’ve been to the Methodist church, the
Baptist church, spent some time with the
Lutherans...”

“Wait” the $20 interrupts. “What’s a
church?”

-000-

“There is a parable about a pig and a
chicken that were discussing the needs of
homeless people and the chicken, worried
that she might be asked to contribute to
chicken soup, suggested giving the homeless
people bacon and eggs for breakfast.

The pig replied that for the chicken it would
be just an interested contribution but for the
pig it would be total commitment.”

-000-

A little church was having a homecoming
service to which ex-members, who had

Invited to Give p30 Lionel D C Hartley

moved away, were invited. One of the
former members had become a millionaire.

When asked to speak, the wealthy man
recounted his childhood experience. He had
earned his first silver dollar which he had
decided to keep forever.

“But when a visiting missionary preached
about the urgent need for funds in his
mission work, and the offering basket was
passed, a great struggle took place within
me.

As a result,” the wealthy man said, “I put
my treasured silver dollar in the basket. I
am convinced that the reason God has
blessed me richly is that when I was a boy I
gave God everything I possessed.”

The congregation was spellbound by the
multi-millionaire’s tremendous statement
until an elderly little man seated in the front

Invited to Give p3l Lionel D C Hartley

row rose and said, “Brother, I dare you to do
it again.”

-000-

One beautiful Sunday morning, Reverend
Barnard announces to his congregation, ‘My
good people, I have here in my hands three
sermonse......

A $100 sermon that lasts five minutes

A $50 sermon that lasts fifteen minutes

And a $20 sermon that lasts a full hour.
Now, we’ll take the collection and see which
one Ill deliver.’

-000-

A man and his ten-year-old son were on a
fishing trip miles from home. At the boy’s
insistence, they decided to attend the
Sunday worship service at a small rural
church.

Invited to Give p32 Lionel D C Hartley

As they walked back to their car after the
service, the father was filled with
complaints. “The service was too long.” he
lamented. “The sermon was boring, and the
singing was off-key.”

Finally the boy said, “Daddy, I thought it
was pretty good for a coin.”
— Lowell D. Streiker

-000-

Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) said
we should feel for others, and then he added,
“in your pocket”.

-000-

Believe to the end, even if all men go astray
and you are left the only one faithful; bring
your offering even then and praise God in
your loneliness.

— Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevski (1821-

Invited to Give p33 Lionel D C Hartley

1881)
-000-

You do right when you offer faith to God;
you do right when you offer works. But if
you separate the two, then you do wrong.
For faith without works is dead; and lack of
charity in action murders faith, just as Cain
murdered Abel, so that God cannot respect
your offering.

— Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

-000-

On his tenth birthday, a sensitive boy
received 10 shiny silver coins from a
thoughtful uncle.

The child was very appreciative. He
immediately sat down on the floor and
spread the coins before him. Then he began
to plan how to use the money.

Invited to Give p34 Lionel D C Hartley

He set aside the first coin saying, “This one
is for Jesus.” He then went on to decide
what to do with the second, and so on until
he came to the last coin. “This one is for
Jesus.” he said.

The boy’s mother interrupted, “But I
thought you gave the first coin to Jesus.”

“T did,” the boy replied, “The first one really
belongs to Him, but this one is a gift to Him
from me.”

-000-

“T was just a child,” related a retired Baptist
preacher, “when one spring day my father
called me to go with him to old man
Russell’s blacksmith shop. He had left a
rake and a hoe to be repaired and they were
ready, fixed like new. Father handed over a

Invited to Give p35 Lionel D C Hartley

silver dollar for repairing them but Mr.
Russell refused to take it.

‘No,’ he said, ‘there’s no charge for that
little job.’

But father insisted. And if I live a thousand
years,” said the preacher, “I’ll never forget
that great blacksmith’s reply.

‘Sid,’ he said to my father, ‘Can’t you let a
man do somethin’ just to stretch his soul?’”
“There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth;
and there is that withholdeth more than is
meet, but it tendeth to poverty.”

— (Proverbs 11:24)

-000-

Matthew Henry, commenting on Proverbs
11:24 wrote, “A man may grow poor by not
paying just debts, not relieving the poor, not
allowing needful expenses. Let men be ever

Invited to Give p36 Lionel D C Hartley

so saving of what they have, if God appoints,
it comes to nothing.”

-000-

A legend from medieval Europe tells us that
there was a wealthy prince who hired
architects and builders to construct a
church on the hill above the local village.
[This, entirely at his own expense.|

Eventually, hubris and pride got the better
of him. When the imposing structure was
completed, in spite of the team nature of the
project, the prince wanted to take sole
credit. He decided, therefore, to add a statue
of himself and have a special niche carved
out for his name.

However, on the day of dedication, the
prince’s name was found to have
mysteriously disappeared. Instead, in its
place, was that of a poor widow [written,

Invited to Give p37 Lionel D C Hartley

according to a legend by the villagers, by an
angel’s hand].

The prince was astonished. He summoned
the widow to his castle and asked what on
earth she’d done to contribute to the
building of his glorious church. She was
alarmed and confessed that because they’d
been working in such a noble cause, she’d
given a few handfuls of hay to the cart
horses as they’d hauled the heavy stones up
the hill.

“His lord said unto him, Well done, good
and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over
many things: enter thou into the joy of thy
lord.”

— (Mat 25:21, 23)

-000-

The visiting preacher was really getting the

Invited to Give p38 Lionel D C Hartley

congregation moving. Near the end of his
sermon he said, “This church has really got
to walk,” to which someone in the back
yelled, “Let her walk, preacher!.”

The preacher then said, “If this church is
going to go, it’s got to get up and run,”
Someone again yelled with gusto, “Let her
run preacher.”

Feeling the surge of the church, the preacher
then said with even louder gusto, “If this
church is going to go it’s got to really fly!”
Once again with ever-greater gusto,
someone yelled, “Let her fly, preacher, let
her fly!”

The preacher then seized the moment and
stated with even greater gusto, “If this
church is really going to fly, it’s going to
need money!” Someone in the back yelled,
with gusto, “Let her walk, preacher, let her
walk!”

Invited to Give p39 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

John Reynolds, in his ‘Anecdotes of the Rev.
John Wesley’ (1828), tells the story of
Wesley’s student days at Lincoln College in
Oxford.

A porter knocked on Wesley’s door one
evening and asked to speak with him. After
some conversation, Wesley noted the man’s
thin coat (it was a cold winter night), and
suggested that he had better get a warmer
one.

The porter replied: “This coat ... is the only
coat I have in the world - and I thank God
for it.”

When asked if he had eaten, he replied: “I
have had nothing today but a draught of
spring water ... and I thank God for that.”

Wesley, growing uneasy in the man’s

Invited to Give p40 Lionel D C Hartley

presence, reminded him that the headmaster
would lock him out if he did not soon return
to his quarters. “Then what shall you have
to thank God for?” Wesley asked.

“T will thank Him.” replied the porter, “that
I have dry stones to lie upon.”

Deeply moved by the man’s sincerity,
Wesley said, “You thank God when you have
nothing to wear; ... nothing to eat ... [and] no
bed to lie on. I cannot see what you have to
thank God for.”

The man replied: “I thank God... that he has
given me life and being; a heart to love Him,
and a desire to serve Him.”

The man left with a coat from Wesley’s
closet, some money for food and words of

appreciation for his living testimony.

Wesley later wrote these words in his

Invited to Give p41 Lionel D C Hartley

Journal: “I shall never forget that porter.
He convinced me there is something in
religion to which I am a stranger.”

Impressive, challenging, and begs the
question, “Do I offer that kind of
thanksgiving to God, or am I, as Wesley put
it, a stranger to that side of religion?” (see
Psalm 65:1-13)

-000-
God owns everything. I’m His money
manager. We are the managers of the assets
God has entrusted—not given—to us.

-000-

The place to “pass the buck” is in the
offering.

-000-

Invited to Give p42 Lionel D C Hartley

After coming out of the waters of baptism,
the new member exclaimed, “Good grief,
preacher, I forgot to remove my wallet from
these trousers. It’s dripping wet.”
“Hallelujah,” exulted the preacher, “We
could stand more baptised wallets.”

-000-

An old Methodist preacher once offered this
prayer in a meeting: “Lord, help us to trust
Thee with our souls.”

Many voices responded with a hearty, old-
fashioned “Amen!”

“Lord, help us to trust Thee with our
bodies.” he continued. Again the response
was a vociferous “Amen!

“Then with still more warmth he said, “And,
Lord, help us to trust Thee with our money.”
Not an “amen” was heard in the house.

Invited to Give p43 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

Total commitment could turn your
“collection” into an “offering.”

-000-
Some people put “zero” in the church
offering and complain that the church is too
cold.

-000-
Our heart always goes where we put God’s
money. Watch what happens when we
reallocate our money from temporal things
to eternal things.

-000-

The reason people put pennies in the
offering because there is no smaller coin.

Invited to Give p44 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

A young student, was one day taking a walk
with a professor, who was commonly called
the students’ friend, from his kindness to
those who waited on his instructions.

As they went along, they saw lying in the
path a pair of old shoes, which they
supposed to belong to a poor man who was
employed in a field close by, and who had
nearly finished his day’s work.

The student turned to the professor, saying:
“Let us play the man a trick: we will hide
his shoes, and conceal ourselves behind
those bushes, and wait to see his perplexity
when he cannot find them.”

“My friend,” answered the professor, “We
should never amuse ourselves at the expense
of the poor. But you are rich, and may give
yourself a much greater pleasure by means

Invited to Give p45 Lionel D C Hartley

of the poor man. Put a coin into each shoe,
and then we will hide ourselves and watch
how the discovery affects him.”

The student did so, and they both placed
themselves behind the bushes close by.

The poor man soon finished his work, and
came across the field to the path where he
had left his coat and shoes. While putting on
his coat he slipped his foot into one of his
shoes; but feeling something hard, he
stooped down to feel what it was, and found
the coin.

Astonishment and wonder were seen upon
his countenance. He gazed upon the coin,
turned it round, and looked at it again and
again. He then looked around him on all
sides, but no person was to be seen. He now
put the money into his pocket, and
proceeded to put on the other shoe; but his
surprise was doubled on finding the other

Invited to Give p46 Lionel D C Hartley

coin.

His feelings overcame him; he fell upon his
knees, looked up to heaven and uttered
aloud a fervent thanksgiving, in which he
spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his
children without bread, whom the timely
bounty, from some unknown hand, would
save from perishing.

The student stood there deeply affected, and
his eyes filled with tears.

“Now,” said the professor, “Are you not
much better pleased than if you had played
your intended trick?”

The youth replied, “You have taught me a
lesson which I will never forget. I feel now
the truth of those words, which I never
understood before: ‘It is more blessed to
give than to receive.’”

Invited to Give p47 Lionel D C Hartley

(“I have showed you all things, how that so
labouring ye ought to support the weak, and
to remember the words of the Lord Jesus,
how he said, It is more blessed to give than
to receive.” - Acts 20:35)

-000-

Some people pay tithes to the waitress, but
tip God

-000-
The trouble with some people who give till it
hurts is that they have a very low pain
threshold.

-000-

Give God what is right, not what is left.

-000-

Invited to Give p48 Lionel D C Hartley

Giving is the only antidote to materialism.
Giving is a joyful surrender to a greater
person and a greater agenda. It dethrones
me and exalts Him.

-000-

Some Christians suffer from Cirrhosis of the
Giver

-000-

A vain man’s motto is to win gold and wear
it.

A generous man’s motto is to win gold and
share it.

A Miser’s motto is to win gold and retain it.
A profligate’s motto is to win gold and spend
it.

A broker’s motto is to win gold and lend it.
A fool’s motto is to win gold and end it.

A gambler’s motto is to win gold and lose it.
A wise man’s motto is to win gold and tithe

Invited to Give p49 Lionel D C Hartley

it “that there may be meat in mine house,
and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows
of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive
it.” (Malachi 3:10)

— Lionel Hartley, adapted from a poem in
Southgate’s treasury (1859)

-000-

Thinking about eternity helps us retrieve
[perspective].

I’m reminded of this every year when I
figure my taxes. During the year, I rejoice at
the paycheques and extra income, and
sometimes I flinch when I write out the tithe
and offering.

I do my best to be a joyful giver, but I
confess it is not always easy, especially when
there are other perceived needs and wants.

Invited to Give p50 Lionel D C Hartley

At the end of the year, however, all of that
changes. As I’m figuring my tax liability, I
wince at every source of income and rejoice
with every tithe and offering cheque.

More income means more tax, but every
offering and tithe means less tax. Everything
is turned upside down, or perhaps, more
appropriately, right-side up. I suspect
judgment day will be like that.

— Gary Thomas, Christianity Today
Magazine

-000-
People will judge you by your actions not
your intentions.
You may have a heart of gold, but so does a
hard-boiled egg.

-000-

I should live not for the dot but for the line.

Invited to Give pol Lionel D C Hartley

From the dot—our present life on earth—
extends a line that goes on forever, which is
eternity in heaven.

-000-

Heaven, not earth, is my home. We are
citizens of “a better country—a heavenly
one.”

— (Hebrews 11:16)

-000-

The heart of the giver makes the gift dear
and precious
— Martin Luther

-000-

“Well Pastor, the sermon didn’t quite fit my
needs. Where do I go to get a refund on my
offering?”

— Cartoonist Lee Johnson, Leadership

Invited to Give ps2 Lionel D C Hartley

Magazine
-000-

God prospers me not to raise my standard
of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
God gives us more money than we need so
we can give—generously.

-000-

A young family regularly sits behind my
parents during morning worship. Every
Sunday when the offering is taken, the
father gives each of his children a dollar to
put in the collection plate.

One Sunday, their little boy Dusty brought a
friend to church.

As my father passed the offering plate to his
family, Dusty, without a second thought, tore
his dollar bill in half, then handed a ‘half

Invited to Give ps3 Lionel D C Hartley

dollar’ to his friend to place in the plate.
— Lucille Case

-000-

As Fragrant Incense

Experience shows that a spirit of
benevolence is more frequently found
among those of limited means than among
the more wealthy. Many who greatly desire
riches would be ruined by their possession.
When such persons are entrusted with
talents of means, they too often hoard or
waste the Lord’s money, until the Master
says to them individually, “Thou shalt be no
longer steward.” They dishonestly use that
which is another’s as though it were their
own.

God will not entrust them with eternal
riches. .. .Precious in God’s Sight, among
the professed children of God, there are men
and women who love the world, and the

Invited to Give p54 Lionel D C Hartley

things of the world, and these souls are
being corrupted by worldly influences.

The divine is being dropped out of their
nature. As instruments of unrighteousness,
they are working out the purposes of the
enemy. In contrast with this class, stands the
honest, industrious poor man, who is ready
to help those who need help, and willing to
suffer wrong rather than manifest the close,
acquisitive spirit of the rich.

This man esteems a clear conscience and
right principles above the value of gold. He
is ready to do all the good in his power. If
some benevolent enterprise calls for money
or for his labour, he is the first to respond,
and often he goes far beyond his real ability,
denying himself some needed good in order
to carry out his benevolent purpose.

This man may boast of but little earthly
treasure; he may be looked upon as deficient

Invited to Give p55 Lionel D C Hartley

in judgment and wisdom; his influence may
not be esteemed of special worth; but in the
sight of God he is precious. He may be
thought to have little perception, but he
manifests a wisdom that is as far above that
of the calculating, acquisitive mind as the
divine is above the human; for is he not
laying up for himself a treasure in the
heavens, uncorrupted, undefiled, and that
fadeth not away?

— Mrs E G White, 1899

-000-
When we eat out, most of us expect to tip the
waiter or waitress 15 percent.
When we suggest 10 percent as a minimum
church offering, some folks are aghast.
— Felix A. Lorenz, Jr.

-000-

Ties or Tithes?

Invited to Give p56 Lionel D C Hartley

One Sunday morning, my 6-year-old son,
Joshua, was busy getting dressed for Sunday
school. When it was time for us to leave, he
came out of his room carrying his entire
stock of neckties. When I asked him why he
was doing this, he eagerly replied, “Cause,
Mom, Reverend Wyser told us to put our
ties in the offering!”

— Debbie Goff

-000-

A Presbyterian missionary I visited from
Ghana told me an interesting thing about
the Presbyterian Church in Ghana.

The Presbyterians are the largest Christian
group in that country. The church was
established over a hundred years ago by
Scottish Presbyterians, and their worship
service is very much like a Scottish
Presbyterian service.

Invited to Give ps7 Lionel D C Hartley

Recently they have allowed the African
traditional experience into the worship
service at the offering.

At the offering, they let the people dance.
That’s a part of African culture in religious,
spiritual worship. They let the people dance
as they bring their offerings forward.

They really get down. The music is going,
and they individually turn it into a
production as they bring that offering to the
offering plate. They take their time, too.

The offering could go on for a long time
because they are dancing all the way down
the aisle. It’s the only time in the service
when they smile.

I thought, How interesting. The only time in
the service when they smile is when they’re
giving their money.

— Don McCullough, “Whom Do You

Invited to Give p58 Lionel D C Hartley

Serve?”
-000-

One time a poor little boy saw all the big
people putting money into the offering plate.
He didn’t have anything to give but five
marbles in his pocket. He put them into the
plate!

People around must have smiled as they saw
the strange offering drop in. After the
meeting, one of the deacons asked the child
if he wanted his marbles back.

“Oh, no I gave them to the Lord Jesus.”
As the story was told from one to another, a
certain man said, “Ill give a hundred

dollars for that boy’s marbles.”

That was another kind of miracle change,
from a few cents to $100.

Invited to Give ps9 Lionel D C Hartley

— Ruth E. Dow
-000-

“My aim never was, how much could I
obtain, but rather, how much could I give.”
— George Muller

-000-

There was a young boy who lived with his
elderly grandmother in a small town. Every
Sunday the grandmother would take the boy
to Church and after they would go
downtown and get an ice cream cone, which
was a special treat.

On one particular Sunday, grandmother was
not feeling well. She told the boy that he
would have to go to Church by himself
today and she gave him two coins, one for
the offering plate and one for an ice cream
after Church.

Invited to Give p60 Lionel D C Hartley

Now as it happened the boy needed to cross
an old wooden bridge in order to get to
Church. As he was crossing the bridge that
Sunday, as boys will do he was watching the
river below, skipping, hopping - generally
not paying attention.

All of a sudden he dropped on of the coins.
The coin fell to the bridge and as luck would
have it found a small crack through which it
fell into the river below.

The boy dropped down and put his eye to
the crack. He watched helplessly as the coin
fell into the river below.

As the boy got up and put the other coin in
his pocket he said, to no one in particular, oh
well, there goes God’s coin.

— Rocci Hildrum

-000-

Invited to Give p61 Lionel D C Hartley

My home church welcomes all
denominations, but really prefers tens and
twenties.

— Lowell D. Streiker

-000-

What we give for Christ we gain and what
we keep back is our real loss.
— Hudson Taylor, summarizing Phil. 3

-000-

If you have many possessions, make your
gift from them in proportion; if few, do not
be afraid to give according to the little you
have.

— Tobit 4:8

-000-

The measure of compassion is not how much
you give but how much you have left over

Invited to Give p62 Lionel D C Hartley

after you have given.
-000-

“God will not merely judge us on the basis
of what we gave but also on the basis of
what we did with what we kept for
ourselves”.

— Erwin W. Lutzer

-000-

He who serves God for money will serve the
devil for better wages.
— English Proverb

-000-

Train up a child in the way he should go:
and when he is old, he will not depart from
it. (Proverbs 22:6)

If you train up a child to give pennies, it is
likely that when he is old he will not depart

Invited to Give p63 Lionel D C Hartley

from it.
-000-

While Eric Hulstrand of Binford, North
Dakota, was preaching one Sunday, an
elderly woman, Mary, fainted and struck
her head on the end of the pew.
Immediately, an EMT in the congregation
called an ambulance.

As they strapped her to a stretcher and got
ready to head out the door, Mary regained
consciousness. She motioned for her
daughter to come near. Everyone thought
she was summoning her strength to convey
what could be her final words.

The daughter leaned over until her ear was
at her mother’s mouth. “My offering is in
my purse,” she whispered.

— From the editors of Leadership Magazine

Invited to Give p64 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

Anthony Campolo, sociology professor at
Eastern Baptist College and popular
speaker, told of his experience one year at a
Women’s Conference where he was making
a major address.

At the point in the program when the
women were being challenged with a several
thousand dollar goal for their mission
projects, the chairperson for the day turned
to Dr. Campolo and asked him if he would
pray for God’s blessing upon the women as
they considered what they might do to
achieve the goal.

To her utter surprise, Dr. Campolo came to
the podium and graciously declined her
invitation.

“You already have the resources necessary
to complete this mission project right here

Invited to Give p65 Lionel D C Hartley

within this room,” he continued. “It would
be inappropriate to ask for God’s blessing,
when God has already blessed you with
abundance and the means to achieve this
goal.

The necessary gifts are in your hands. As
soon as we take the offering and underwrite
this mission project, we will thank God for
freeing us to be the generous, responsible
and accountable stewards that we are called
to be as Christian disciples.”

When the offering was taken, the mission
challenge was oversubscribed, and Dr.
Campolo led a joyous prayer of
thanksgiving for God’s abundant blessings
and for the faithful stewardship of God’s
people.

-000-

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what

Invited to Give p66 Lionel D C Hartley

makes you come alive and go out and do it.
Because what the world needs is people who
have come alive.

— Howard Thurman

-000-

In our town’s elementary school at the
beginning of the year, the school secretary
routinely collects the lunch money from the
new kindergartners. This solves the problem
of lost money. But for nervous 5-year-olds, it
took a few days to understand what was
happening.

For two days, the secretary would come into
the room and ask in a loud voice, “Does
anybody have any lunch money for me?”
Her question was met with no response.

On the third day, one little boy came in at
the bell, walked hesitantly to the teacher’s
desk, held out his hand and whispered,

Invited to Give p67 Lionel D C Hartley

“Here is lunch money from my piggy bank
for the poor lady nobody gives money to.”
—June Spivey

-000-

If we belong to Christ, it’s logical that
everything we have truly belongs to Him.

-000-

If you want to feel rich, just count all the
things you have that money can’t buy.

-000-

Christian stewardship begins with God at
the centre. When stewardship revolves
around any other centre, it is misconceived.

The institution of the church is an
inadequate substitute for the incarnate body
of Christ.

Invited to Give p68 Lionel D C Hartley

The church as institution is a means to the
end of the church as the fellowship of all
believers.

Stewardship is servant-hood to God through
the church, not to the church institution.

-000-
A chequebook is a theological document; it
will tell you who and what you worship.
— Billy Graham

-000-
Wealth shines in giving rather than in
hoarding: for the miser is hateful, whereas
the generous man is applauded.
— Boethius (480-524?)

-000-

Examples are few of men ruined by giving.

Invited to Give p69 Lionel D C Hartley

— Christian Bovée
-000-

People go through three conversions: their
head, their heart and their pocketbook.
Unfortunately, not all at the same time.

— Martin Luther (1483-1546)

-000-
Never measure your generosity by what you
give, but rather by what you have left.
— Bishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979)
-000-
One verse in every six in the first three
Gospels relates, either directly or indirectly,
to money. Sixteen of our Lord’s 44 parables

deal with the use or misuse of money.

A loving, joyful, liberal giving to the Lord’s

Invited to Give p70 Lionel D C Hartley

work is an acid test of a spiritual heart,
pleasing to God.

— William E. Allen, Alliance Witness
Magazine

-000-

Remember this. You can’t serve God and
Money, but you can serve God with money.
— Selwyn Hughes

“No servant can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the
other; or else he will hold to the one, and
despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and
mammon.” (Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13)

-000-
A Christian is one who does not have to

consult his bankbook to see how wealthy he
really is.

Invited to Give p71 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

Your use of money shows what you think of
God.

-000-
The world asks: “What does a person own?”
God asks, “How does a person use what he
or she has been given?”

-000-
Some people say, “Give till it hurts.” But
God recommends that we give until it feels
good. God loves a cheerful giver!
— Brian Kluth

-000-

Real charity doesn’t care if it’s tax
deductible or not.

Invited to Give p72 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

When a man becomes rich, either God gains
a partner, or the man loses a soul.

-000-

If a person gets his attitude toward money
straight, it will help straighten out almost
every other area in his life.

— Billy Graham

-000-
One of the greatest missing teachings in the
... church today is the reminder to men and
women that nothing we have belongs to us.
— Gordon MacDonald

-000-

No church ever has a money problem, only a
faithfulness problem.

Invited to Give p73 Lionel D C Hartley

— Brian Kluth
-000-

When you give to God, you discover that
God gives to you.

-000-

God looks at the heart, not the hand — the
giver, not the gift.

-000-

In the Holy Land are two ancient bodies of
water. Both are fed by the Jordan River. In
one, fish play and roots find sustenance.

In the other, there is no splash of fish, no
sound of bird, no leaf around. The
difference is not in the Jordan, for it empties
into both, but in the Sea of Galilee: for every
drop taken in one goes out. It gives and lives.

Invited to Give p74 Lionel D C Hartley

The other gives nothing. And it is called the
Dead Sea.
— William Sloane Coffin

-000-

Charity begins at home and generally dies
from lack of outdoor exercise.

-000-
Do not give, as many rich men do, like a hen
that lays her eggs ... and then cackles.
— Henry Ward Beecher (1813-87)

-000-
One of the reasons churches ... have trouble
guiding people about money is that the

church’s economy is built on consumerism.

If churches see themselves as suppliers of
religious goods and services and their

Invited to Give p75 Lionel D C Hartley

congregants as consumers, then offerings
are ‘payment.’
— Doug Pagitt

-000-
Choose rather to want less, than to have
more.
— Thomas a Kempis (c1380-1471)

-000-
You can give without loving. But you cannot
love without giving.
— Amy Carmichael (1867-1951), missionary
(India)

-000-

Two things ruin a church — loose living and
tight giving.

-000-

Invited to Give p76 Lionel D C Hartley

Give naught, get same.
Give much, get same
— Malcolm Forbes (1919—)

-000-

You have not lived until you have done
something for someone who can never repay
you.

— John Bunyan (1628-88)

-000-

Christian stewards seek the heart of God in
faithfully, joyfully and gratefully managing
all the gifts God has given.

-000-

My take on tithing in America is that it’s a
middle-class way of robbing God. Tithing to
the church and spending the rest on your
family is not a Christian goal. It’s a

Invited to Give p77 Lionel D C Hartley

diversion.

The real issue is: How shall we use God’s
trust fund-namely, all we have-for His
glory? In a world with so much misery, what
lifestyle should we call our people to live?
What example are we setting?

— John Piper (1946—) “Will a man rob
God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say,
Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and
offerings” (Malachi 3:8).

-000-

I was once young and now I am old, but not
once have I been witness to God’s failure to
supply my need when first I had given for
the furtherance of His work.

He has never failed in His promise, so I
cannot fail in my service to Him.

— William Carey (1761-1834)

Invited to Give p78 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

We should travel light and live simply.
Our enemy is not possessions, but excess.
— John Stott (1921—)

-000-

No one has ever become poor by giving.
— Anne Frank (1929-45)

-000-

The principal hindrance to the advancement
of the kingdom of God is greed... It seems
that when the back of greed is broken, the
human spirit soars into regions of
unselfishness.

I believe that it is safe to say there can be no
continuous revival without ‘hilarious’
giving. And I fear no contradiction:
wherever there is ‘hilarious’ giving there

Invited to Give p79 Lionel D C Hartley

will soon be revival!
— O. S. Hawkins

-000-

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous;
teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give
and not to count the cost.

— Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

-000-

If it is more blessed to give than to receive,
then most of us are content to let the other
fellow have the greater blessing.

“Tt is more blessed to give than to receive.”
(Acts 20:35)

— Shailer Matthews (1863-1941)

-000-

I cannot think of a better definition of
Christianity than that: give, give, give.

Invited to Give p80 Lionel D C Hartley

— James I. McCord (1919—)

-000-
The only investment I ever made which has
paid consistently increasing dividends is the
money I have given to the Lord.
— James L. Kraft (1874-1953)

-000-
Generosity is to materialism what
kryptonite is to Superman.
— Lloyd Shadrach

-000-
Think of giving not as a duty but asa
privilege.

— John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1874-1960)

-000-

Invited to Give p81 Lionel D C Hartley

Generosity during life is a very different
thing from generosity in the hour of death;
one proceeds from genuine liberality and
benevolence, the other from pride or fear. —
Horace Mann (1796-1859)

-000-

Giving is true loving.
— Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92)

-000-

There cannot be a surer rule, nor a stronger
exhortation to the observance of it, than
when we are taught that all the endowments
which we possess are divine deposits
entrusted to us for the very purpose of being
distributed for the good of our neighbour.
— John Calvin (1509-64)

-000-

Invited to Give p82 Lionel D C Hartley

Giving is more than a responsibility — it is a
privilege; more than an act of obedience —
it is evidence of our faith.

— William Arthur Ward (1921—)

-000-

If there be any truer measure of a man than
by what he does, it must be by what he gives.
— Robert South (1634-1716)

-000-

Even if I give the whole of my worth to Him,
He will find a way to give back to me much
more than I gave.

— Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-92)

-000-
All you have shall someday be given:

Therefore give now, that the season of giving
may be yours and not your inheritors.

Invited to Give p83 Lionel D C Hartley

— Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
-000-
The measure of a life is not its duration, but
its donation.
— Peter Marshall (1902-49)
-000-
If I cannot give bountifully, yet will I give
freely.
— Arthur Warwick
-000-
It’s not how much we give but how much
love we put into giving.
Mother Teresa (1910—)

-000-

What the Bible says is really true — it’s

Invited to Give p84 Lionel D C Hartley

better to give than to receive.”

— Ted Turner (1938—) “I have showed you
all things, how that so labouring ye ought to
support the weak, and to remember the
words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is
more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts
20:35)

-000-
Empty pockets never held anyone back. It’s
only empty hearts that do it.
— Norman Vincent Peale

-000-

Watch lest prosperity destroy generosity.
— Henry Ward Beecher (1813-87)

-000-

If you haven’t got any charity in your heart,
you have the worst kind of heart trouble.

Invited to Give p85 Lionel D C Hartley

— American comedian Bob Hope (1903—)
-000-

When I die, if I leave behind me ten pounds
... you and all mankind [may] bear witness
against me, that I have lived and died a thief
and a robber.

— John Wesley (1703-91)

-000-

He that gives all, though but little, gives
much; because God looks not to the quantity
of the gift, but to the quality of the givers.

— Francis Quarles (1592-1644)

-000-
A lot of people are willing to give God the

credit, but not too many are willing to give
God the cash.

Invited to Give p86 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

I have held many things in my hands, and I
have lost them all. But whatever I have
placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.
— Martin Luther (1483-1546)

-000-
We are rich only through what we give: and
poor only through what we refuse and keep.
— Anne Swetchine (1782-1857)

-000-
Be charitable before wealth makes thee
covetous.
— Sir Thomas Browne (1605-82)

-000-

Die Nachstenliebe macht reich; Habgier
hortet sich arm.

Invited to Give p87 Lionel D C Hartley

— German Proverb (Charity makes you
rich; Greed hoards itself poor.)

-000-

God has given us two hands—one to receive
with and the other to give with. We are not
cisterns made for hoarding; we are channels
made for sharing.

— Billy Graham

-000-

The most important aspect of tithing and
stewardship is not the raising of money for
the church, but the development of devoted
Christians.

— Fred M. Wood

-000-

You can’t take it with you, but you can send
it on ahead.

Invited to Give p88 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

There are many hearing me who now know
well that they are not Christians because
they do not love to give. To give largely and
liberally, not grudging at all, requires a new
heart.

— Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-43)

-000-
Qui alios hortatur ad dandum, se ipsum det.
— Latin Proverb (He who encourages
others to give, gives himself.)

-000-
Nothing that you have not given away will
ever be really yours.

— Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951)

-000-

Invited to Give p89 Lionel D C Hartley

I do not believe one can settle how much we
ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule
is to give more than we can spare.

In other words, if our expenditure on
comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to
the standard common among those with the
Same income as our own, we are probably
giving away too little.

If our charities do not at all pinch or
hamper us, I should say they are too small.

There ought to be things we should like to
do and cannot do because our charitable
expenditures excludes them.”

— C:S. Lewis (1898-1963)

-000-
To give without any reward, or any notice,

has a special quality of its own.
— Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906—)

Invited to Give p90 Lionel D C Hartley

-000-

If it is more blessed to give than to receive,
then most of us are content to let the other
fellow have the greater blessing.

— Shailer Matthews (1863-1941)

-000-
Give what you have. To someone it may be
better than you dare to think.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-82)
-000-
Giving is more than a responsibility. It is a
privilege; more than an act of obedience. It
is evidence of our faith.
— William Arthur Ward (1921—)

-000-

In the total expanse of human life there is

Invited to Give p91 Lionel D C Hartley

not a single square inch of which the Christ,
who alone is sovereign, does not declare,
‘That is mine!’

— Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920)

-000-

It is an anomaly of modern life that many
find giving to be a burden. Such persons
have omitted a preliminary giving.

If one first gives himself to the Lord, all
other giving is easy.
John S. Bonnell (1893—)

-000-

In his book The Cycle of Victorious Giving
(Beacon Hill Press), Stan Toler tells about
the time when he was a college student and
attended the annual missions conference at
his church.

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“I felt impressed by God to give $100 as a
pledge of faith. At that time, it certainly was
a faith pledge. College expenses had put a
colossal crimp on my finances. I paid the
pledge promptly, but it took the last of my
cash. After the offering, I was broke. Good
old-fashioned worry weighed heavily on my
mind.

“Soon after, while I was working part-time
as a barber at the North Court Barber Shop
in Circleville, Ohio, my boss said he wanted
to talk to me. More worry.

‘Stan,’ he began, ‘[because you’re only
working part-time] all the other barbers in
this shop have a chance to get more tips and
profits from the sale of hair products than
you; but you’re doing a great job! Here’s a
bonus of $100 — just don’t tell the others.’

“Tf it weren’t for two things, I would have
danced around the shop and hugged my

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boss’s neck. First, back then students at the
college I attended weren’t allowed to dance.
Second, pedestrians passing by the big plate
glass storefront of the shop probably
wouldn’t understand why I was hugging my
boss.

“God taught me something that day. I
discovered I never could beat Him in a
giving competition. God honours obedience,
and He loves it when we learn to trust.”

-000-
In 1815 Napoleon was defeated in the battle
of Waterloo, and the hero of that battle was
the Duke of Wellington.
The duke’s most recent biographer claims to
have an advantage over all the other

previous biographers.

His advantage was that he had found an old

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account ledger that showed how the duke
had spent his money: that, says the
biographer, was a far better clue to what the
duke thought was really important than
reading his letters or his speeches.

Can you imagine that? If someone wrote
your biography on the basis of your
chequebook or your income-tax return,
what might it say about you, your loyalties,
your focus, and about whom you serve?

— Heidi Husted, “The Sermon on the
Amount.”

-000-

Prayers after the offering:

Lord, you are still watching those putting
money into the treasury. May what we have
given today, along with the returning of our
tithes and stewardship, be multiplied with
exponentiation to Your glory. We ask this in
Jesus’ name, Amen.

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— Lionel Hartley
-000-

We thank you, Lord, for your creation: for
the wonders of this world; for the earth and
all that is nourished by it; for the teeming
ocean depths which maintain our planet’s
life. For the green and blue of our earthly
home, we praise your holy name. You are a
God who gives. Lord, You blessed even the
widow’s small coin, so receive the slender
wealth of our lives, using them for Your
service, we pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

-000-

“Lord, we thank you that we could
participate in worship through the giving of
our offerings, stewardship and tithes. As You
multiplied the loaves and fishes, we ask that
you would multiply the effectiveness of these
gifts as they assist in furtherance of Your

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work. We ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

— Lionel Hartley

FIN

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